What does the US government do with spies and special operators when they pass their expiration date? They retire them to a small town deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas, where they’re certain to cause no trouble.
A collection of broken spies, former double agents, and retired operators lives in secrecy, under the watchful eye of the government in the small, deep-woods town of Cottonmouth, Texas.
Devlin Mahoney is the de facto mayor of these special citizens, charged with keeping them in seclusion, hidden from the world, which he does from the office of the town’s only motel.
But the peace of this sleepy village is shattered when a pair of women, on the run from a vicious criminal, drops into Mahoney’s lap and he’s forced to choose between doing what’s right and doing what he’s told

IN A NUTSHELL
‘Welcome To Cottonmouth‘ was a fun read that kept me smiling and kept me turning the pages. It’s a romp filled with larger-than-life characters. It has an improbable but just about plausible plot and a huge amount of energy. I loved the humour, enjoyed the action and admired trope-twisting. I’ll be reading more by Jay S. Bell.

In an interview with Nerd Daily, Jay S. Bell was asked to describe ‘Welcome To Cottonwood‘ in five words. He said: “Fast, fun, pulpy, rollercoaster ride.” I can’t do better than that, except to say that I really enjoyed riding this rollercoaster.

‘Welcome To Cottonmouth‘ isn’t the book to go to if you’re looking for serious spy fiction, but if you ever wondered what Reacher might be like if he had a sense of humour and some friends, then this book might give you some answers. 

The book is in three parts. The action and its consequences escalate in each part, leading to a bloody and explosive ending. 

I was engaged with the action and cheering for the good guys to win, but I was also smiling a lot because this is a story lubricated by humorous dialogue and the gleeful repurposing of action movie clichés.

The knowingly bizarre tone of the book was set in the first part of the book, where I was introduced to the town of Cottonmouth and its unusual citizenry. It’s a town that’s trying so hard to be normal that it comes across as a theme park version of a much earlier America. 

Central to the action is the Cottonmouth Inn, a motel so old it’s like something from a movie set, which is run by a man who looks more like a beach bum turned janitor than a manager. He’s an ex-spy with lots of unpleasant memories that he’s trying to keep buried, and he’s trying hard not to kill anyone any more, unless they really deserve it. Next to the motel is a cowboy-themed Diner run by an Iranian and an Israeli husband and wife team. He’s a nuclear physicist and she’s a retired spy who used to be his handler. 

The action starts when a woman and a girl, on the run from some nasty people, have car trouble, are towed to Cottonmouth’s garage (run by an ex-sniper of course) and check in to the motel. When trouble follows them to town, things quickly get out of hand. 

There’s lots of violence, much of it decorated with detailed information about weaponry and combat techniques, some very scary people (many of them in Team Good Guys), a damaged damsel in distress and an unredeemable evil mastermind who deserves to be put down.

The story is held together by humour, romantic notions of doing the right thing, the joy of forcibly ‘retired’ people going back to what they were once good at, and an absolute refusal to be beaten.

‘Welcome To Cottonmouth’ works well as a stand-alone novel, but I’d be very happy to visit Cottonmouth again, the next time trouble comes to town. 

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On his website, Jay S Bell describes himself as a ‘Pulp Fiction Mechanic’.

In a recent interview with Nerd Daily, Jay S. Bell described himself as:

Native Texan, resident of a Dallas suburb, two kids, and a wife of 33 years. I have been owned by many cats and a few dogs. I have the scars from three careers and a short-lived business venture, and the experiences of someone born before the JFK assassination, and well before CDs, computers, smartphones, and Google.